Ranchi, Oct 12 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday felicitated 274 sportspersons and coaches and gave away cash prizes amounting to Rs 4.94 crore.

Soren said the initiative will encourage sports and promote the state's players and coaches.

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"For the past 20 years, sportspersons were not sure about their future. Now, I can assure them not to worry about it. You (players) just play, the government will take care of your future," Soren said.

The chief minister gave away cash awards totalling Rs 4.46 crore to 222 players who won medals in various national and international events.

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They include 55 footballers, 39 hockey players, 24 Wushu players, 23 archers, 17 Taekwondo players, 13 wrestlers, 11 lawn ball players and 11 athletes.

On the occasion, 52 coaches were also honoured with cash rewards of Rs 48.30 lakh.

Among prominent sportspersons who received cash awards were lawn ball players Rupa Rani Tirkey and Lovely Choubey who won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Both of them received cheques of Rs 40 lakh each.

Sangita Kumari, Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan, who were part of the national hockey team that won bronze in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, received cheques of Rs 12 lakh each.

Anushka Tiwary, Shreya Oraon and Shrishti Roj Kujur, who won gold medal in team event of the 5th NTPC Cherukuri Lenin Volga (U-9) National Archery Championship, 2023, received cheques of Rs 75,000 each.

"The cash award is a big boost for budding sportspersons of the state. This will not only encourage them, but also motivate to perform better in future," archer Anushka Tiwary said.

The chief minister said not just players, the government also has plans for coaches as they play an important role in honing the skills of players.

"Earlier, medal winners in the state were given a paltry Rs 5,000 to Rs 7000. I told the department concerned that the cash prize should not be less than Rs 50,000," Soren said.

Now, a provision of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 crore honorarium has been made for players. For coaches, it will be Rs 50,000 to Rs 25 lakh, Jharkhand sports secretary Manoj Kumar said.

Soren said that a policy has been framed for direct recruitment of players. "The government has given direct employment to 40 sportspersons and this will continue," he said.

He said the government is not preparing players just to win medals. "We have initiated sports activities from panchayat-level to state-level. For the first time, Jharkhand government in association with Hockey India is all set to organise the Asian Women's Hockey Championship in Ranchi from October 27 to November 5," the CM said.

He said efforts are being made so that every year a big sports event could be organised in Jharkhand.

Jharkhand sports and tourism minister Hafizul Hasan and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji also attended the event.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)